men carrying trays overhead (india)

This is a Hindu offering ceremony to Lord Shiva, performed by members of a large Ashram at the Kumbh Mela festival.­

Thousands of Hindu devotees each made hundreds of small lingams with soft clay, each lingam having three small white eyes.­ Then they all walked in a procession from the Ashram toward the nearby Ganges river, carrying trays on their heads, with all the small clay lingams on the trays.­ All the lingams were then thrown in the Ganges river, as an offering to Lord Shiva.­

Kumbh Mela is the largest festival on Earth, taking place once every 12 years, with more than 50 million Hindu pilgrims gathering to pray and bathe in the holy Ganges river.­